Cryptic-Currency

The advent of crypto-currencies and ICO’s and other various forms of ether fairy dust should provide at least some fodder for questioning the viability of hard currencies. As we all know from Economics 101, a nations currency represents a claim on the full faith and credit of a particular nation state. Unlike bitcoin however, the trillions of dollars of currency trades that take place daily do not involve a real concern as to the ultimate financial stability of the underlying sovereign itself. Two recent events should give dollar holders pause when it comes to U.S. credit stability, namely the decision by Congress to eliminate the debt ceiling and President Trumps off hand comments regarding Puerto Rican Debt. These two seemingly unrelated events both represent efforts by Government to escalate their influence in the bond holder/sovereign creditor relationship. In plain terms, the congressional action tells bondholders “The Sky’s our limit”, while Trumps remarks tell creditors “Don’t expect much”. While some would say don’t read too much into this, it may prove to be a foreshadowing of things to come as the worlds largest debtor is now led by a President known to treat debt repayment as merely one option.